Expect Loadshedding to Start Again Today

Prepare yourselves for another round of load shedding as power plants running on natural gas have been shut down. The plants were generating 3,000 MW of electricity, however, a limited supply of gas forced the government to halt their operations for the time being.

“It is really a Herculean task to ramp up fuel supply in a short span of 12-13 hours and even more difficult to maintain the frequency in transmission lines and grid stations for smooth supply of electricity,” an official commented when the orders to reduce gas supplies were issued. Prime Minister had previously directed officials to increase consumption of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) that was being imported.

The official dealing with supply and demand issues, further said that limiting fuel supply to oil-based power plants would result in a short fall and general consumer will suffer from it.

It would be unfortunate if the electricity consumers suffer beca­use of the erratic decision-making of the government, particularly when surplus capacity is available in the system.

He informed that major plants, including the ones that are under Northern Power Company and Balloki, Haveli Bahadur Shah, Fauji Kabirwala, Nandipur and Bhikki, would suffer from gas shortfall that could last for three days.

[Above mentioned plants] would move out of the ystem on Nov 24 [today] and are unlikely to be back in the system by Nov 27

Notices issued

Following electricity producing power plants would see a decreased supply of natural gas as per the notice.

Fauji Kabirwala, Rawalpindi;

Northern Thermal Power, Muzaffargarh;

Rousch Power, Lahore;

National Power Parks Management, Lahore;

Quaid-i-Azam Thermal Power, Lahore;

Sui Northern Gas Company Limited (SNGPL) pointed out that there is a “Severe depletion of system pack and system is being operated on lowest critical level.”

According to the company, the reason behind this system pack is reduced supply of Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) and increased demand in the cities.

Supply and Demand official indicated government’s poor management and said that it is desperate to reach out to oil producing companies and ensure continuous supply of fuel.

Poor Management

The grids in the country have enough capacity to produce 25,000 Megawatts of electricity, the demand on the other hand stands only at 10,000 to 11,000 MW in the winter season. This incident has shrunk the electricity supply by 3,000 MW.

The poor management of officials caused a nationwide shortfall on 3rd November when LNG import terminal faced maintenance issues. The shortfall lasted for 4 days from November 3 to November 7 affecting major areas of Balochistan and Punjab.

At that time, demand was 14,000 -150,000 MW, however, the Ministry stated that due to smog, limited gas supply and closure of power plants supply was reduced to around 10,000 creating a shortfall of 4,200 megawatts.